pro spotlight

motivational spotlight: Onton See

ATHLETE: ONTON SEE, PROFESSIONAL DANCER

Born and raised in Toronto, Onton trained in martial arts since the age of eight, and started dancing at the age of 19. In 2007, he joined the dance crew, Supernaturalz, and since then, he has won World Championship titles, competed internationally, and represented Canada on multiple occasions. He is world-renowned for his flow, complexity and well rounded dynamic style. He is also actively involved in community youth outreach programs and hopes to inspire many generations to come. He has battled through numerous injuries throughout his career as a breakdancer. Check out his inspiring video below!

Throughout my entire dance career, I have been getting injured time and time again. Whether it be knee injuries, sprained wrists, fractured ankles, bursitis, sprained fingers, jammed toes… it’s been tough, but I’ve never let any injury stop me from pursuing my passion.

2) As a dancer, why do you believe that your injuries are a blessing?

Injuries happen all the time for me. I think the most important thing is to maintain a positive mindset and to figure out how to work around it and come back stronger. For me personally as a dancer, having injuries is a blessing, because it forces me to train and learn new things by putting a limitation on certain movements. So actually, I end up learning to move in a new way and form while recovering from certain areas, and then when I am fully recovered, my overall style has improved. I definitely make the best of the recovery period, and remind myself that I just need to be creative in the way I train.

3) How do you stay motivated after going through multiple injuries? Do you fear re-injury?

Since I’m so obsessed with training and dancing, there’s an emotional toll and negative mental impact when I go more than a day or two without practicing. So even after multiple injuries, I continue to want to dance. It’s my life, and my passion and that’s where my motivation comes from. I just need to dance everyday (haha!). I actually don’t have a fear of re-injury [note: I have never had to go through surgery as a result of any of my injuries, thankfully]. I believe that if you have a strong mindset and are smart about your body, you will always improve if you work hard for it. Also, I’ve been through injures so many times that it’s helped me in that I’ve learned how to move and train in ways that help to reduce the risk of injury.

4) What advice would you give to other athletes recovering from injury?

Stay positive! Be smart and study your body because its your tool. Keep it maintained and eat clean. Condition well. Keep your body strong. Have fun with it. You can still have fun while recovering from injury - you just have to work around it and find new ways.